Robotically assisted goods tracking and automation system

ABSTRACT

A system comprising a bank, a robot that retrieves and stores a good deposited in the bank, a sensor that validates presence of the good while in storage in the bank, and a processor that generates information related to the good, wherein the good has an associated RFID tag, wherein the system is configured to: robotically map at least a portion of the bank, generate information related to the good, identify and track the good, and monitor when the good leaves the bank.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/044,027 filed Feb. 15, 2016, which is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/400,726, filed Feb. 21, 2012 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,079,315 issued Jul. 14, 2015), which claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/528,566 filed Aug. 29, 2011; the contents of all of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.

All publications, patents, and patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method and system for providing an improved approach for automating the banking sector using robotics and artificial intelligence.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. Autonomous robots are robots that can perform desired tasks in structured or unstructured environments without continuous human guidance. In today's world, robots may be used in many sectors (or applications) such as medical sector, banking sector, transportation sector, military sector, etc. More particularly, robots may be used to automate the banking sector. For example, robots may be configured in a way that it can go to the safe deposit vault without requiring any human intervention. The robot may be given a set of secret keys (by its owner) for security purposes. Further, robots may be used in banking surveillance and monitoring.

Robots need to be able to create a map using map-making algorithms that accurately displays their environment to be effective in their application. Maps display what robots see, and therefore it is vital that these maps are as accurate as possible because they lead to more practical applications of these types of robots. Currently available technologies use dead reckoning as a mapping method in navigation of robots.

Dead reckoning calculates the current position of the robot by using a previously determined position. With mobile robots, the position is determined by rotary wheel encoders. The main problem that arises with a two wheel drive train is that the robot's wheels tend to frequently slip or skid, especially during turning, causing the encoders to return larger values than what they should. When encoder data is mapped, it is quite inaccurate, as no measures are taken to properly correct the slips and skids that have occurred.

Therefore, what is needed is an accurate location service which may be applied to automating the banking sector and which overcomes the limitations exhibited by current banking methods.

SUMMARY

An embodiment relates to a method for conducting banking automation comprising robotically assisting a plurality of customers using a robot in retrieval and storage of goods deposited in a bank, wherein during said retrieval and storage of goods by the robot: (a) each of the plurality of the customers maintains privacy by being placed in a private location, (b) the plurality of the customers are able to retrieve and store goods simultaneously, and (c) identification of each of the plurality of the customers is verified with either one or a combination of account number, smartcard, biometric data, passwords, physical keys, etc. Another embodiment relates to a banking automation system comprising a robot for robotically assisting a plurality of customers in retrieval and storage of goods deposited in a bank. Yet another embodiment relates to a tangible non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to conduct banking automation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1.—Layout of the bank, vault, and consumer access rooms.

FIG. 2.—Robot interactions.

FIG. 3. (a) Strategy to map environment for robot; (b) Overarching hierarchy of consumer-robot interactions.

FIG. 4.—Retrieval of goods by the robot.

FIG. 5.—Robot security architecture and biometric identification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is a technique used by robots and autonomous vehicles to build up a map within an unknown environment (without a priori knowledge), or to update a map within a known environment (with a priori knowledge from a given map), while at the same time keeping track of their current location.

Maps are used to determine a location within an environment and to depict an environment for planning and navigation; they support the assessment of actual location by recording information obtained from a form of perception and comparing it to a current set of perceptions. The benefit of a map in aiding the assessment of a location increases as the precision and quality of the current perceptions decrease. Maps generally represent the state at the time that the map is drawn; this is not necessarily consistent with the state of the environment at the time the map is used.

The complexity of the technical processes of locating and mapping under conditions of errors and noise do not allow for a coherent solution of both tasks. Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is a concept that binds these processes in a loop and therefore supports the continuity of both aspects in separated processes; iterative feedback from one process to the other enhances the results of both consecutive steps.

Mapping is the problem of integrating the information gathered by a set of sensors into a consistent model and depicting that information as a given representation. It can be described by the first characteristic question, What does the world look like? Central aspects in mapping are the representation of the environment and the interpretation of sensor data.

In contrast to this, localization is the problem of estimating the place (and pose) of the robot relative to a map; in other words, the robot has to answer the second characteristic question, Where am I? Typically, solutions comprise tracking, where the initial place of the robot is known, and global localization, in which no or just some a priori knowledge of the environmental characteristics of the starting position is given.

SLAM is therefore defined as the problem of building a model leading to a new map, or repetitively improving an existing map, while at the same time localizing the robot within that map. In practice, the answers to the two characteristic questions cannot be delivered. independently of each other.

Before a robot can contribute to answering the question of what the environment looks like, given a set of observations, it needs to know e.g.: the robot's own kinematics; which qualities the autonomous acquisition of information has, and; from which sources additional supporting observations have been made. It is a complex task to estimate the robot's current location without a map or without a directional reference. Here, the location is just the position of the robot or might include, as well, its orientation.

SLAM can be thought of as a chicken or egg problem: An unbiased map is needed for localization while an accurate pose estimate is needed to build that map. This is the starting condition for iterative mathematical solution strategies.

The answering of the two characteristic questions is not as straightforward as it might sound due to inherent uncertainties in discerning the robot's relative movement from its various sensors. Generally, due to the budget of noise in a technical environment, SLAM is not served with just compact solutions, but with a bunch of physical concepts contributing to results. If at the next iteration of map building the measured distance and direction traveled has a budget of inaccuracies, driven by limited inherent precision of sensors and additional ambient noise, then any features being added to the map will contain corresponding errors. Over time and motion, locating and mapping errors build cumulatively, grossly distorting the map and therefore the robot's ability to determine (know) its actual location and heading with sufficient accuracy.

Different aspects of SLAM include the following:

(1) Mapping, i.e., the process of creating geometrically consistent maps of the environment. (2) Sensing, i.e., using several different types of sensors to acquire data with statistically independent errors. The sensors could be optical sensors that may be one dimensional (single beam) or 2D-(sweeping) laser rangefinders, 3D Flash LIDAR, 2D or 3D sonar sensors and one or more 2D cameras. For VSLAM (visual SLAM), the sensors could be visual (camera) sensors. The sensors could also be quasi-optical wireless sensors ranging for multi-lateration (RTLS) or multi-angulation in conjunction with SLAM. A special kind of SLAM for human pedestrians could use a shoe mounted inertial measurement unit as the main sensor and relies on the fact that pedestrians are able to avoid walls. This approach called FootSLAM can be used to automatically build floor plans of buildings that can then be used by an indoor positioning system. (3) Locating: The results from sensing could be fed to the algorithms for locating. According to propositions of geometry, any sensing must include at least one lateration (a navigation technique based on the measurement of the difference in distance to two or more stations at known locations that broadcast signals at known times) and (n+1) determining equations for an n-dimensional problem. In addition, there must be some additional a priori knowledge about orienting the results versus absolute or relative systems of coordinates with rotation and mirroring. (4) Modeling: Contribution to mapping may work in 2D modeling and respective representation or in 3D modeling and 2D projective representation as well. As a part of the model, the kinematics of the robot could be included, to improve estimates of sensing under conditions of inherent and ambient noise. The dynamic model balances the contributions from various sensors, various partial error models and finally comprises in a sharp virtual depiction as a map with the location and heading of the robot as some cloud of probability. Mapping is the final depicting of such model, the map is either such depiction or the abstract term for the model.

The term “bank” refers to any depository that safeguards properties. For example, the bank could be a financial institution that safeguards valuables and/or money of customers. The bank could be a tissue bank, such as for a good laboratory practice (GLP) or non-GLP setting. The bank could be a gene bank. The bank could be a library for storage of books. The bank could be a central intelligence agency that safeguards classified or non-classified data and goods. The bank could be an archive or an armory for storage of weapons.

An embodiment relates to a banking automation by autonomous robot applying, for example, three process steps of (1) mapping the bank area with a robot; (2) retrieval of goods from a certain area such as lockers in a vault; and (3) storage of goods to a certain area such as lockers in a vault. These three steps are described in further details as below:

Mapping Bank Area with a Robot

-   -   a. Generating its own map     -   i. Or having a map inputted by the user     -   b. Map includes locker numbers, which correspond with the         numbers on the locker owners' keys

Retrieval

-   -   a. People come into bank, which is built specially for automated         banking, and enter one of the customer rooms, for example, as         shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 3.     -   b. Locker owner gives robot (FIG. 1, reference numeral 4) an         electronic key, which is marked with a code that informs the         robot which locker to go to in its internal map, through small         opening.     -   c. The key also contains information about the owner for         security. If there is a thief who finds a random key, the         biometric information (fingerprints, photograph, signatures,         etc.) could not match and the police can be phoned right away.     -   d. The bank's manager could also have a key for each locker, and         make sure that the key the owner has is authentic and matches         the one of the manager.     -   e. When all security aspects are finished, the robot goes to the         respective locker (FIG. 1, reference numeral 1) and retrieves         the box inside that contains the client's belongings by scanning         or inserting the key that was given. On the other hand, the         owner may be allowed to have a touch screen from which he/she         can choose exactly what they would want from their box.

Storage

-   -   a. After the owner has finished picking out his/her possessions,         the robot returns the box to the correct locker.     -   b. Finally, the robot returns the key to the owner     -   c. Since there could be various robots in the room that can help         various owners, the robots need to be able to avoid each other         effectively     -   d. The robots do all this in a dark vault (FIG. 1, reference         numeral 2), so people cannot see through the small openings in         the rooms. Also, they could have extendable arms to reach for         higher lockers

Unlike today's banks, this automated bank using intelligent mobile robots could give multiple people access to their lockers with increase privacy and security. The rooms that each individual is in could be locked, preventing the chance of a robbery. There could he multiple identity checks done by the robot, and this process could be fast and efficient due to the fact that there are multiple robots.

An embodiment relates to the actual architecture of the banking area. As shown in an exemplary schematic in FIG. 1, clients can enter the bank and choose one of the multiple rooms. Each of these rooms is secure and can be locked from the inside. These smaller rooms are there so that clients can privately and safely give their keys and biometric information to the autonomous robots without others watching. It protects clients from being attacked by thieves and allows them to privately take out their belongings. In addition, the vault where the various lockers could be contained could be dark without any lights. This could prevent clients from looking into the vault and seeing which lockers are being opened by robots to insure security. Because of this, the robots could he able to move around in darkness and need not rely on the light to move around. Another advantage of having multiple rooms is that multiple people can access their belongings and make use of the robots simultaneously. Of course, the number of rooms could vary according to the area given for the bank. In today's banks, only one person can access their vault or box at a time to insure safety. With this new bank, clients can get their belongings much faster in a more efficient manner.

While optionally there could be different number of robots than the number of customer rooms, in another embodiment there could be the same number of robots as there are customer rooms. This way, multiple clients can make use of the robots to get their boxes at the same time. Although it may be expensive to have so many robots, it could make a more efficient bank and end up creating greater income. The extensive security checks done by the robots could also encourage more clients to come to this bank over another. As shown in FIG. 2, the robots (reference numeral 2) interact specifically with four different items/people. First, the robot interacts directly with the client by accepting the key given (FIG. 2, reference numeral 1). The robot then can authenticate a person based on one or more biometrics (fingerprints, facial image, Iris scan, Voice print, or on client's signature, etc.) and/or a smartcard. The robot also interacts with the key (FIG. 2, reference numeral 3) by reading all of the pre-inserted biometric data in it. Third, if the data read from the key and the data that is created by the robot when investigating the client don't match, the robot interacts with the bank manager or police (FIG. 2, reference numeral 4), making sure that if a thief is trying to use another person's card, he/she could get caught. Finally, if all the security checks are completed successfully, the robot could use the locker information stored in the card to locate the vault or locker (FIG. 2, reference numeral 5) that it corresponds to in its internal map. The intelligent, autonomous robots could bring a large improvement in the banking system,

FIG. 3a and FIG. 3b are exemplary schematics of an overarching hierarchy for the customer (e.g., an owner of the safe deposit box) accessing the safe deposit box. The customer could enter a customer room with locking capabilities. While the customer is inside the customer room, the robot would take a picture of the customer, biometric data of the customer, as well as his or her key to his or her safe deposit box. If the biometric information process is fulfilled, as explained in the subsequent paragraph, the robot enters the darkened vault and proceeds to the respective locker using Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), a program that will be explained further below. After arriving at the locker, the robot will realign itself so that it can access the box from the locker and carry it to the customer. As the customer finishes picking specific belongings, the robot will return the box to the locker and await another customer.

Using a database, the robot would confirm that the key is for their bank and the person in the room is the owner of the key. The picture would be added to the database for reference. If the data does not match up, the door would remain locked, the picture would be added to a blacklist for the bank, the authorities would be alerted, and the key would be sent to the owner. If the data is correct, the robot would then leave the room, and enter the sealed safety deposit box room through a small exit. This room would be kept dark, so that only robots would be able to navigate through. While driving towards its target, the robot would be using SLAM to fix its odometry to prevent errors caused by sliding and slipping. But as discussed later, SLAM can still return faulty data, so the robot has the option of checking the nearby barcodes to validate its position. Once the robot has arrived, it uses the safety deposit box to align itself with the box, and then uses (by means of scanning, entering, etc.) both the customer's key and the robot's key to attempt to open the box. If the box does not open, the robot checks to see if it is in the right location. If the robot is in the right location but the keys still don't work, the robot takes the key back to the customer so that they can talk to bank management for a replacement key. If the location was incorrect, the robot could then use the before mentioned method to drive to the correct location. If the keys did open the safety deposit box, then the robot could take out the inner box, and by using the before mention driving method return the customer's room. The robot could wait for the customer to finish. Then the robot could then take both the inner box and the key back to the safety deposit box location. After the inner box is returned, the robot could take the key back to the user, and wait for a new customer.

FIG. 4 is schematic of the retrieval process carried out by the robot. The robot scans the customer's key card, matches it up with the correct locker that corresponds to the customer's key card, and decides on a path to reach the correct locker. To reach the correct locker, the robot needs to find the shortest path to the locker after accessing it from its internal map. To actually do this, the robot could be using Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). The Robot Operating System, or ROS (a robot software geared towards Linux systems tier open source collaboration of robotic software), contains multiple SLAM, or Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, implementations. After doing some experiments, data that was presented showed that Gmapping, an implementation of SLAM, is far more accurate than other mapping algorithms such as Dead Reckoning, a mapping method in navigation that calculates current position by using a previously determined position. With mobile robots, the position is determined by rotary wheel encoders. The main problem that arises with a two wheel drive train is that the robot's wheels tend to frequently slip or skid, especially during turning, causing the encoders to return larger values than what they should. When encoder data is mapped, it is quite inaccurate, as no measures are taken to properly correct the slips and skids that have occurred. Using dead reckoning can lead to disasters in the bank, as robots may go to wrong lockers by mistake. On the other hand, SLAM builds a map whilst in an unknown environment and keeps track of the current position. Rotary encoders are used to keep track of the current location and laser scans from a laser measurement technology device made by SICK are used to correct the map when the wheels slip or skid. The laser measurement technology device can be used tier a wide range of applications. The device, which detects both 2D and multi-dimensional contour data, can process information either externally or in the sensor itself. Since the encoders and the laser measurement device are working in unison, they are configured to create a more accurate map. SLAM was proven to be far more accurate after our experimentation.

The biometric scanning that could take place could be similar to that explained in U.S. Pat. No. 7,970,678, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, discloses several biometric financial transaction systems and methods. For example, consumers could access their goods located in a safe deposit vault after validation and verification of the customer by biometrics as shown in FIG. 5. Similarly, there is at least one robot that is able to fulfill orders from the consumer. A biometric or a biometric sample is any unique human characteristic of which a scan or image is taken directly from the person. The biometric or biometric sample may be, but is not limited to, any of the following: a fingerprint, a retinal image, an iris image, a facial image, and voice print.

A robot provides the ability to accept biometric and other data as input, to identify the consumer from this data, and to either complete item retrieval. Communication links exist or can be established between the robot and the database. In one embodiment, one could use a proxy to retrieve goods from the bank vault while the owner of the goods in the vault could be remote, for example in a hospital. In this case, there could be double authentication of both the proxy and the owner. A communication link with the remote owner can be a permanent connection (e.g., a leased line), a temporary switched-circuit connection (e.g., a dialup telephone call), or a virtual connection (e.g., via packet switching). Encryption can be employed on all communication links to protect sensitive data, as is standard in the industry.

The robot may or may not be required to contain in memory any data which is personalized to or unique to the consumer in order for the consumer retrieve or deposit goods. Additionally, it can be used as a biometric input device using the consumer's voice as a biometric. A wireless or cellular telephone with a built-in finger image scanner or other biometric sensor can also be used. This is like the example above, but uses a biometric other than voice, e.g., a finger image. In addition, the consumer can use a wireless personal digital assistant (PDA) such as a smart phone, with a microphone or other biometric sensor. The wireless PDA can be used to enter and communicate an order to a robot, and a microphone or other biometric sensor can be used to input a biometric. Other access devices could be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Every key possesses an identification (ID) code. This ID code is unique to the locker. Examples of ID codes include a digital certificate that includes the number of the locker, ID of the consumer in the data base, etc.

A database can be a single computer that or a large collection of computers that serves a number of different robots. The database accepts queries of biometric data and identifies consumers from this data. Once identified, the robot retrieves goods from the consumer's locker. This information could be recorded.

In another embodiment, a wireless PDA is the access device used. As discussed above, there could be different biometrics. For illustrative purposes, a voice biometric could be used in this embodiment. Use of the system in this embodiment proceeds as follows: (1) A consumer uses the access device (wireless PDA) to contact the robot or bare. (2) The robot receives the ID code from the key. In this embodiment, this could be digital certificate identification or a number stored in the device. As described above, a voice biometric is used for illustrative purposes in this embodiment but other biometric identifiers are possible. If the consumer cannot be identified after repeated tries, the robot alerts a human customer service assistant, or security personnel, who can use other means to identify the consumer. (3) In the event of a successful identification, the robot retrieves goods for the consumer.

There are many advantages of having biometric identification. First, because each transaction is authorized using a biometric received from the consumer's person, the transaction cannot be repudiated. Second, the embodiments are convenient for the consumer, particularly located remotely from the robot, for example an elderly person in a hospital, in that the robot handles all account information, eliminating the need to recite or otherwise enter credit card or other account numbers into a telephone or PDA. Third, the use of biometrics and encryption provides security, eliminating the possibility of fraud via intercepting transmissions from the telephone or PDA. Fourth, the system supports the use of multiple consumers to access the vault simultaneously in privacy, providing flexibility for the consumer.

Although the embodiments have been described with respect to a particular biometric electronic transaction system and method for its use, it could be appreciated that various modifications of the system and method are possible without departing from the invention.

All of the above mentioned ideas based on mapping using SLAM could be replaced with a similar set-up with a radio, ultrasound, light, laser, infrared, other signals, or vision based localization method.

EXAMPLES Materials and Hardware

This project used the P3DX robot from AdeptRobots, but other similar robots could be analyzed the same way. On top of the robot must be some sort of distance sensor, which could be either a lidar or a depth sensor like the Microsoft Kinect. For this project we used the LMS1XX lidar from SICK. An Ubuntu or other Linux based laptop is mounted to the robot, and could be running ROS. A joystick is needed for teleoperation of the robot. The robot should have the tires tested in between trials, to ensure that the pressure doesn't change and cause tire variations across tests.

Software

The laptop needs a recent version of ROS. This project used the Diamondback distribution, but can also be done with the Electric distribution. The laptop could also need either a premade ROS wrapper stack (ROS packages) or a custom-made one. The same applies to the lidar sensor. In this project, the P205 stack and LMS1xx stacks were used for the robot and the laser respectively. We used Matlab as a basic visualization tool for the Dead Reckoning map.

Methods

Mapping evaluation has so far been done by checking the map of a mapping algorithm against the ground truth map of the area. This project splits mapping into 5 main areas, each with their own separate procedure and data values, which are described below.

The 90 Degrees Test:

In this test, while the laptop is recording the laser and odometry data, the robot passes by a 90 degree corner of a room from approximately 2 ft. away from the corner, going towards the right wall, turning and heading towards the left wall. The data collected during the test is then set to run through Gmapping stack and displayed in ROS's visualization stack, RVIZ, and directly without preprocessing to Matlab to make the Dead-Reckoning map. The maps are then checked for the angle of the corner and the number of corners that are created.

The 90 Degrees Twice Test:

The procedure for this test starts the same as the previous test, but after the robot finishes its movement, it turns toward right and goes forward, turns left and goes forward again, which leaves the robot extremely close the corner. The data is again sent to Gmapping and RVIZ, and Matlab, and the maps are checked for the angle of the corner and the number of corners that are created by the map.

The Straight Away Test:

In this test, the robot drives 430 cm. The recorded data is then run through Gmapping and RVIZ, and Matlab, and the generated map is then checked to see how far robot reported that it has moved. The distance can be easily counted through the labeled axis, where in Matlab the units are millimeters and in RVIZ the units are 0.5 meters.

The Circle Test:

In this test, the robot could move in a predetermined path that curves around obstacles, and then returns to the starting location. The data is then made into maps, and the map is checked to see how far the end location is away from the start. There could always be some distance because the robot uses skid-turning, but the distances could be measured and compared.

The Straight Will Test:

In this test, the robot could start at the beginning of a long wall. It could then move in a semi random pattern of left and right that lead towards the end of the wall, with the robot ending against the wall at the very end. The data is then made into a map, and then checked to see how straight the wall is. Since at the beginning and the end the robot is against the wall, a line drawn between the two is where the wall should be, and then the wall visible is compared against the real wall.

Results

To ensure that all results were accurate, each of the five tests was done five times for both SLAM and Dead Reckoning.

The 90 Degree Test:

In the 90 Degrees Test, SLAM performed far better, as only one angle was produced on the map, and the average of the angles from the five trials was 91.8°, which has only 2% error, as seen in Table 1. However, Dead Reckoning produced two or three separate angles on the map, although they were only 10 cm away from each other and appear as one when the map is zoomed out. To deal with this problem, both or all three of the angles produced by Dead Reckoning in one trial were averaged to find a final angle measurement of the trial. The average of those five final measurements showed that Dead Reckoning displayed and angle of approximately 98.5°, which has 9.4% error. The standard deviation for the SLAM trials was 0.84 degrees, while for the Dead Reckoning trials it was 0.97 degrees, showing increased consistency in the trials done by SLAM on ROS. Table 1 is a data table of the test showing the angles from both SLAM and Dead Reckoning:

TABLE 1 Data from Dead Reckoning and SLAM of mapping a 90 degree corner. 90 Degree Test Dead Reckoning SLAM Number of Angle Average of Number of Angle Average of Trial No Angles Measures Angles Angles Measures Angles 1.0 3.0 101, 95, 97 97.6 1.0 92.0 92.0 2.0 3.0 94, 105, 99 99.3 1.0 93.0 93.0 3.0 2.0 98, 99 98.5 1.0 91.0 91.0 4.0 3.0 101, 92, 99 97.3 1.0 91.0 91.0 5.0 2.6 96, 103 99.5 1.0 92.0 92.0 Average 98.4 1.0 91.8 Standard 0.969 0.836 Deviation

The 90 Degree Twice Test.

The next test performed was the 90 Degrees Twice Test. This test was controversial, because 2 or 3 angles were created in each trial for both SLAM and Dead Reckoning. So, Dead Reckoning created about the same number of angles it did in the 90 Degrees Test, and SLAM created many more than the previous test because the area was scanned twice. SLAM showed two completely separate walls, while Dead Reckoning showed three angles near each other like the last test. However, SLAM was still more accurate in the angle of the wall than Dead Reckoning; the average of all the angles in SLAM was 93.3°, which has an error of 3.7%, and in Dead Reckoning the average was 110.6°, which has an error of 22.8% as seen in Table 2. Although multiple angles were created in both, Dead Reckoning was not able to measure the angle correctly. In Dead Reckoning, the standard deviation, was 2.05 degrees, while in SLAM it was 0.63 degrees, again showing that results in SLAM are more precise. Table 2 is a data table of the second test from both SLAM and Dead Reckoning:

TABLE 2 Dead Reckoning and SLAM mapping a 90 degree angle. 90 Degree Twice Test Dead Reckoning SLAM Number of Angle Average of Number of Angle Average of Trial No Angles Measures Angles Angles Measures Angles 1.0 3.0 112, 115, 110 112.3 2.0 93, 95 94.0 2.0 2.0 109, 111 110.0 2.0 94, 93 93.5 3.0 3.0 108, 110, 111 109.6 3.0 94, 91, 92 92.3 4.0 3.0 107, 108, 109 108.0 2.0 92, 94 93.0 5.0 2.0 112, 114 113.0 2.0 91, 96 93.5 Average 2.6 110.6 2.2 93.3 Standard 2.048 0.630 Deviation

The Straight Away Test:

In the five Dead Reckoning trials, when the actual distance was 4.3 meters, the average distance travelled by the robot was 4.58 meters, as seen in Table 3. The distance displayed on the Dead Reckoning map was on average 0.28 meters off the true distance. SLAM displayed a far more accurate distance, with an average of 4.18 meters. The ROS software was off by an average of 0.12 meters, less than half the inaccuracy presented by Dead Reckoning. The standard deviation of the five Dead Reckoning trials was 0.125 meters, while the deviation for the SLAM trials was only 0.1 meters. Table 3 is a data table for this Straight Away Test of the 4.3 meter run. The units on the Dead Reckoning map are in millimeters and the ROS map has squares that are each 0.5 meters squared:

TABLE 3 Dead Reckoning and SLAM mapping while moving 4.3 meters. Straight Away Test Dead Reckoning SLAM Trial No Distance How Far Off Distance How Far Off 1.0 4.4 0.6 4.1 0.2 2.0 4.6 0.3 4.2 0.1 3.0 4.6 0.3 4.0 0.3 4.0 4.7 0.4 4.4 0.1 5.0 4.6 0.3 4.3 0.0 Average 4.6 0.3 4.2 0.1 Standard 0.125 0.100 Deviation

The Circle Test:

Circle Test also assessed the rotary encoder problem in the Dead Reckoning software, as the P3-DX had to go around an obstacle in the center of the room and arrive back in the exact same spot. The initial and final locations of the robot should have been the same. However, because of the wheels' skidding on the robot, the Dead Reckoning map showed that the robot did not end in the same location. The average of the distances from the start on Dead Reckoning was 1.05 meters, while the average for SLAM was 0.58 meters, as seen in Table 4. This was only test where the standard deviation of SLAM, 0.28 meters, was greater than that of Dead Reckoning, being 0.17 meters.

TABLE 4 Dead Reckoning and SLAM mapping while travelling in a circle. The circle was then checked to see how far the robot was off in its ending point. Circle Test Dead Reckoning SLAM Trial No Distance From Start Distance From Start 1.0 0.9 0.6 2.0 1.1 0.5 3.0 1.2 0.2 4.0 0.9 1.0 5.0 1.2 0.6 Average 1.1 0.6 Standard Deviation 0.166 0.284

The Straight Wall Test:

The final test, the Straight Wall Test, was done to see whether or not Dead Reckoning and SLAM could accurately locate a wall even if the P3-DX was swaying wildly left and right. In this test, SLAM displayed a much more accurate map, as it only showed one wall, while Dead Reckoning showed a map that did not present a definite location of the wall. To evaluate this test, a line was placed where the wall actually should have been on the map, and the various distances from the line were measured at set intervals. For each trial, the average of these distances was taken, as seen in Table 5. The average of all trials for Dead Reckoning was 1.07 meters, which is large in comparison to the 0.19 meters for SLAM. Dead Reckoning was also much less precise, because the standard deviation of its trials was 0.31 meters, in comparison to SLAM's 0.04 meters. Table 5 is a data table for the test:

TABLE 5 Dead Reckoning and SLAM mapping a straight wall. Circle Test Dead Reckoning SLAM Average Distance Average Distance Trial No From Wall From Wall 1 1.26 0.17 2 1.13 0.21 3 0.96 0.14 4 0.60 0.19 5 1.40 0.23 Average 1.07 0.19 Standard Deviation 0.308 0.036

Discussion

90 Degree Test.

The Dead Reckoning map had either two or three angles that formed corners, but their separation was minuscule and only visible if the corner was focused on. Of all the trials, the average was 98.4° with a standard deviation of 0.969 degrees. For the SLAM map, there was only one corner, and the average of all of its trials gets an average of 91.8° with a standard deviation of 0.836 degrees. Since the Dead Reckoning map had multiple walls, it can be concluded that the robot had slipped twice, causing the two extra, but very close and similar, walls. The SLAM method, with its slipping correction, does not run, into the same problem with the multiple walls. SLAM also fixes the skidding which happens during the turning, making the angles more accurate, which in this test was 466% more accurate from the formula 100*(Ø−dr)/(Ø−Ør), where Ø is 90°, Ødr is the angle from Dead Reckoning, and Or is the angle from SLAM. Since the standard angle deviation for both methods are small, it shows that the values are consistent, which in the case of Dead Reckoning means consistently off, and in the case of SLAM mean consistently accurate.

90 Degree Twice Test:

In this test, just like the prior one, the Dead Reckoning map had either two or three walls, all very close and similar in angle. But with this test the SLAM also has multiple walls, except that the walls are entirely separate, with a large distance between them. This happened because of the way that SLAM works; SLAM tries to match points from what it saw in the past to the current scans to try to fix the odometry skids and slips. This encounters problems when the robot is in a rapidly changing environment, such as a dynamic environment, or one which the robot is really close to a wall, where all small turns seem extreme. The program then sometimes mismatches what the robot thinks is the same point, and then moves its location to match where it would be if the points actually did match. This causes the completely different walls when the laser data gets mapped from the new location. Even so, the average of all of the corners for SLAM is still close to 90 with an average of 93.26 with a standard deviation of 0.6304 degrees. Dead Reckoning also got a worse than the previous test with more turns that the robot skids on, with an average of 101.6 with a standard deviation of 2.048 degrees. Using the formula from the last test, we get that SLAM is 355% better in its angle, but because of having separate walls unlike Dead Reckoning, which has very close walls together, it is not as accurate of a map. Since the standard deviations for the data sets are small, it shows that the data is consistent.

The Straight Away Test:

In this test, the distance travelled is measured and then compared relative to what it should be, 4.3 meters. The reason this test would reveal different results from Dead Reckoning to SLAM is that with Dead Reckoning, when the wheels slip, the robot thinks that it has moved forward while it had not actually moved during that time. With SLAM, it should report something in the distance with the distance sensor, and adjust its location based on matching those objects to where it saw them in the past, making slip less effective in changing how far the robot thinks it has gone. For Dead Reckoning, it has an average of 0.28 meters more than 4.3 meters with a standard deviation of 0.125 meters, and with SLAM, it has an average of 0.118 meters less than 4.3 meters with a standard deviation of 0.1001 meters. The SLAM algorithm is 237% better than Dead Reckoning, but both are really accurate numbers. For both Dead Reckoning and SLAM have the standard deviation relatively high, meaning that even though they are both relatively good numbers, it is not consistent.

The Circle Test:

When the robot tries to turn, since it has two wheels, it skids to turn. This test tries to see if the robot, while it is skidding in the same direction on a circular path, can keep its odometry accurate. With Lead Reckoning, the average distance away from the start location is 1.05 meters with a standard deviation of 0.168 meters while SLAM has an average of 0.58 meters and a standard deviation of 0.286 meters. Since the standard deviation for Dead Reckoning is small, it shows that it is consistently off, while SLAM has a relatively high standard deviation, meaning that although it can be really accurate, it is not precise all the time. This shows that SLAM is 180% better at keeping the skidding moderated and ending up in the same place as it started on the map. Since this test has the robot skidding the entire time, and all of the skidding occurs during a clockwise turn, all of the errors are being accumulated the fastest out of all the tests. SLAM's ability to use laser scans to correct its position is more apparent in this test.

The Straight Wall Test:

This test sees how well the robot keeps its odometry together as it skids in opposite directions. For SLAM, only one distinct wall is produced on the map. On the Dead Reckoning map, there are many walls visualized, but for the sake of analyzing, we could be just looking at the actual wall and the wall farthest from the actual wall. By comparing the farthest wall to the actual wall (which can be done by placing a line between the end and beginning of the robot's path, where it was against the wall), we get the accuracy of the generated wall. This test had the skidding in opposite directions. In the case of Dead Reckoning, it does not show one inaccurate map, but multiple walls placed atop each other. SLAM manages to keep the robot's position accurate, preventing multiple walls from being displayed. For each map, an average of the distance between the displayed wall and the actual wall was recorded, and overall, the average of those averages for the Dead Reckoning map are 1.07 meters away from the wall with a standard deviation of 0.308 meters, while SLAM has an average of 0.187 meters away with a standard deviation of 0.035 meters. Since the standard deviation for both of these figures are small, it shows that these values are consistently away for the Dead Reckoning and consistently good for SLAM. This shows that SLAM is 572% better at keeping the wall where it should be when it is put into a constant skidding environment.

This work is unique from other published findings because unlike other map evaluation methods, this project compares each part of mapping independently, while other methods compare the map in whole. Our results were also unique in that they quantitatively proved a fatal flaw in SLAM, allowing for more improvement of the SLAM algorithm by understanding which portions of the algorithm needs improvement, and in turn, allows programmers to be more direct in fixing problems that show up.

This project also allows for less strict testing environments, whereas before, a carefully and tediously measured map of the room being tested in has to be made. On the contrary, we have now created a standard testing environment for map-making algorithms, which can easily be reconstructed. In almost any environment, one can slightly change their perimeters to match the standard testing area and complete all five tests, and evaluated their own algorithms.

After conducting this project, one can see that Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, or SLAM, is a more effective method of mapping than Dead Reckoning. Using laser scans to correct wheel encoder data when wheels slip and skid is an efficient way to make a more accurate map. In four out of the five tests conducted to evaluate map accuracy, SLAM performed better and displayed a better map 4 out of the 5 times. The reason SLAM did not accurately display the 90 Degrees Twice Test is because in a rapidly changing environment, SLAM's laser data incorrectly fixes the encoder data, creating two different images of one object. This is the one major error in SLAM, which could be assessed in a future project. These results support the hypothesis because they do prove that SLAM is a better method of mapping than Dead Reckoning. With ROS and SLAM technology, banking automation could be made easier and more helpful to humans.

Combining Robotic Banking with Active Insurance Underwriting and Safety Measures

Each box and items in it could be tagged (e.g. RFID tags) for the purpose of identifying and tracking on items to provide better insurance coverage. These tags would be used to monitor when specific items are leaving the safety deposit box, and by who. The system would log the date and time the safe was accessed, and the biometrics of the user who accessed it. Alternatively to tags, cameras could be used, which would identify when the item is present in the vault.

These tags could also allow users to select items that they wish to access, and have the robot only bring those specific items. This would allow for users to access items from multiple safety deposit boxes at once. This also allows for users to store and retrieve items that are too big for traditional safety deposit boxes, which would be stored in a separate area in the vault. Tagging of all items would not be mandated, allowing users to keep their privacy if they chose to do so.

The robotic vault could be used to provide insurance for marked items. In order to determine insurance rates and coverage, the item must be validated and appraised.

In one embodiment a system for determining a level of risk associated with a marked item for underwriting purposes could include at least one sensor that provides information, such as a camera providing one or more images or video for example, used to determine one or more properties of the marked item. The number of days that a marked item is outside the robotic vault, the frequency of removal of the marked item from the robotic vault, and the time of the year (holidays, festivals, etc.) when the marked item is removed from the robotic vault, can be used to determine the level of risk associated with the marked item. In another embodiment, a method for determining a level of risk or price of insurance includes obtaining information from a sensor, generating information regarding quality, validity and authenticity of the marked item from the sensor information, and generating a level of risk or price of insurance using this information.

In one embodiment, the system could require a specialist to inspect the item in-person to check the validity of the item. In another embodiment, the robot could check the validity using a combination of sensors. The robot could determine material composition by the use of multispectral images, spectroscopy, x-rays, or ultrasound. The robot could also check the items weight and volume to determine if the density matches what is expected of that type of item. The robot could also check the texture by use of optical and physical sensors. These sensors would also be able to detect explosives, narcotics, and other items not allowed in the vault. For the robotic schema, the items validity could be checked each time it is placed in the vault to ensure it was not replaced by a fake/replica. The same could apply to the higher end items for the specialist validation.

After the item is validated, the appraisal would be done either by an algorithm to calculate the market value, or by a specialist. The specialist could do the appraisal in-person or by using the robot and its components (e.g. camera, sensors, actuators, etc.). The rates would depend on the market value, and the amount of time spent outside of the vault. Using tags or cameras, the vault will be storing how long items are in the vault. This information would be given to the insurance scheme, which could raise rates for items as they stay out of the vault longer. The insurance scheme also has the option to only provide coverage for an item when it is inside the bank vault.

In embodiment, the geographical location of the marked item could have determined using the tag such as RFID and the information based on the geographical location could be used to determine a level of risk or price of insurance. Embodiments can be incorporated into a web based computer system accessible over the Internet that electronically communicates with computer systems of the insurer, bank and/or third parties. By linking collected and historical information, and analyzing it with respect to an insured's good, the insurance company can set up theft monitoring services, which can help the customer reduce the risk of loss. By reducing a customer's losses, the customer is benefitted. Further, by reducing the total cost of losses, the insurer can afford to reduce premiums, and further improve customer service. The embodiments described herein can be integrated with any area of insurance, including, but not limited to property and casualty insurance and inland marine insurance.

An embodiment relates to a system and method for maintaining an inventory of assets located at a robotic vault covered under one or more insurance policies based on data received from IP-addressable devices located in the robotic vault. The system includes an inventory database for storing inventory information about assets located at the robotic vault, a communication interface for receiving registration and operational data associated with an IP-addressable device, and a business logic computer. The business logic computer creates a data structure for storing inventory information about assets located at the robotic vault in the inventory database for each robotic vault. The business logic computer determines, for the robotic vault, the inventory information about the assets based on registration and operational data received from its IP-addressable devices located at the robotic vault. The business logic computer stores the inventory information in its associated data structure in the inventory database.

In one embodiment, if the stored item is a vehicle, then pursuant to some embodiments, insurance systems, methods and devices are provided in which vehicle information, including fuel filling or electric vehicle charging information, may be received over a communications network. The vehicle filling or charging information may be automatically associated with automobile insurance premium information. An integrated presentation of the vehicle filling or charging information and the automobile insurance premium information may then be transmitted, over the communications network, for presentation to an owner of the vehicle.

Since the vault would be only accessed by robots, the air composition can be set so that living things would not survive (such as filling the room with only Nitrogen). This would prevent any fungus, termites or rodents from damaging any of the items in the vault. This air composition would also prevent fires, which needs oxygen to combust. The lack of oxygen would also add an extra level of security for humans trying to break into the vault. The temperature and humidity can also be set for maximum protection of items store in the vault; some of the most commonly stored items could include, documents, antiques, art, collectibles, jewelry, and memorabilia. The vault will have water, fire and motion detection sensors for extra security and protection.

To prevent hacking, the robot would have limited communication with outside networks. Aside from a few required channels (creation of a safety deposit box, termination of a safety deposit box, etc.), the robot would only communicate with the vault system. For added security, the robot could use a two point authentication system to open the safe, requiring a combination of a pin number, a RFID tag, a physical key, or biometrics.

Although portions of the discussion herein relate, for demonstrative purposes, to wired links and/or wired communications, embodiments of the invention are not limited in this regard, and may include one or more wired or wireless links, may utilize one or more components of wireless communication, may utilize one or more methods or protocols of wireless communication, or the like. Some embodiments of the invention may utilize wired communication and/or wireless communication.

Some embodiments of the invention may be used in conjunction with various devices and systems, for example, a Personal Computer (PC), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld PDA device, an on-board device, an off-board device, a hybrid device (e.g., a device incorporating functionalities of multiple types of devices, for example, PDA functionality and cellular phone functionality), a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a non-mobile or non-portable device, a wireless communication station, a wireless communication device, a wireless Access Point (AP), a wireless Base Station, a Mobile Subscriber Station (MSS), a wired or wireless Network Interface Card (NIC), a wired or wireless router, a wired or wireless modem, a wired or wireless network, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wireless LAN (WLAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a Wireless MAN (WMAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Wireless WAN (WWAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Wireless PAN (WPAN), devices and/or networks operating in accordance with existing IEEE 802.11, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.16, 802.16d, 802.16e, 802.16m standards and/or future versions and/or derivatives and/or Long Term Evolution (LTE) of the above standards, units and/or devices which are part of the above networks, one way and/or two-way radio communication systems, cellular radio-telephone communication systems, a cellular telephone, a wireless telephone, a Personal Communication Systems (PCS) device, a PDA device which incorporates a wireless communication device, a mobile or portable Global Positioning System (GPS) device, a device which incorporates a GPS receiver or transceiver or chip, a device which incorporates an RFID element or tag or transponder, a device which utilizes Near-Field Communication (NFC), a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transceiver or device, a Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) transceiver or device, a Multiple Input Single Output (MISO) transceiver or device, a device having one or more internal antennas and/or external antennas, a wired or wireless handheld device (e.g., BlackBerry, Palm Treo), a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) device, or the like.

Some embodiments of the invention may be used in conjunction with one or more types of wireless communication signals and/or systems, for example, Radio Frequency (RF), Infra Red (IR), Frequency-Division Multiplexing (FDM), Orthogonal FDM (OFDM), OFDM Access (OFDMA), Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM), Time-Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Extended TDMA (E-TDMA), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), extended GPRS, Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA 2000, Multi-Carrier Modulation (MDM), Discrete Multi-Tone (DMT), Bluetooth®, Global Positioning System (GPS), IEEE 802.11 (“Wi-Fi”), IEEE 802.16 (“Wi-Max”), ZigBee™, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), 2G, 2.5G, 3G, Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), 3.5G, or the like. Embodiments of the invention may be used in various other devices, systems and/or networks.

Termites and other insects can often build up in safe deposit vaults because there is oxygen and humidity. These insects can also lay eggs and create large colonies. Once the termites build up, then they can destroy the contents of the vault. Often vaults contain large amounts of important documents and currency which can be easily destroyed by termites. One way to prevent termite build-up is by filling or purging the vault chamber with Nitrogen or any other inert gas. The lack of oxygen will prevent termite build up. This prevents insects from living or breeding and hence protects the valuables in the vault.

Since customers can add and/or remove contents from their vault in a private room, anti-social elements can introduce explosives and chemical/biological (C/B) agents. To prevent such scenarios, the robots can be equipped with scanners and sensor so that they can detect the presence of such C/B agents periodically.

Assuring the highest level of security to customers during a robot vault transaction is imperative. Currently, in a robotic vault configuration, both the biometric entry and the locker release are controlled by the same server. This could be a potential security issue because, if a hacker were to hack into the server, then he/she can bypass both the biometrics and locker release system. One way to prevent this is by hosting the biometric entry and the locker release on two different servers. This makes it harder for the hacker to penetrate the system because he/she has to access both servers simultaneously. For added security, the bank can have the robot on an intranet or a local network so that the hacker has to find a way to communicate with the robot. Additionally this robot can be controlled through a security guards computer which resides on another server.

The following US patents and published applications are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference:

U.S. Pub. No. 20150025917 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING AN UNDERWRITING RISK, RISK SCORE, OR PRICE OF INSURANCE USING COGNITIVE INFORMATION.

U.S. Pub. No. 20130325519 METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING CUSTOMIZED RISK MITIGATION/RECOVERY TO AN INSURANCE CUSTOMER.

U.S. Pub. No. 20130226624 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMPREHENSIVE INSURANCE LOSS MANAGEMENT AND LOSS MINIMIZATION.

U.S. Pub. No. 20130096960 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ACTIVE INSURANCE UNDERWRITING USING REGISTRATION DATA OF IP-ADDRESSABLE DEVICES.

U.S. Pub. No. 20120259665 SYSTEMS AND METHODS ASSOCIATED WITH INSURANCE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

U.S. Pub. No. 20090164256 DEVICE, SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF COLLABORATIVE INSURANCE. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising robotically retrieving and storing a good deposited in a bank using a robot, wherein the good has an associated RFID tag, robotically mapping at least a portion of the bank, generating information related to the good, identifying and tracking the good, and monitoring when the good leaves the bank.
 2. A system comprising a bank, a robot that retrieves and stores a good deposited in the bank, a sensor that validates presence of the good while in storage in the bank, and a processor that generates information related to the good, wherein the good has an associated RFID tag, wherein the system is configured to: robotically map at least a portion of the bank, generate information related to the good, identify and track the good, and monitor when the good leaves the bank. 